V/A - Parsec

[DeathPosture]

V/A - Parsec

 

 

Hi-res cover: front + back

 

Artist: Various

Title: Parse

Format: CD (jewel case)

Label: Oxygen Records (Czech Republic)

Cat. #: OXYCD002

Distribution: Arabesque

Date: 17 October 2005

 

Track listing:

 

01. 07’41” Braincell aka. Rastalians - Underwater

02. 07’28” Aphid Moon vs. Protoculture – Systematic Anomally

03. 08’10” Ninja – Show Time

04. 07’24” Hydraglyph – Aural Sex (Rmx)

05. 07’25” Freakulizer & DJ Moodra – Freaky Mood

06. 08’55” Setherian – Angelic Debris

07. 07’55” Sound Field – No Roots

08. 07’55” Lucid SounD – 8.5 Light Minutes

09. 08’54” Spectra - Split

 

.m3u-playlist: http://tinyurl.com/c7w95 (all tracks!)

 

Review:

 

Sunrise music!

 

The parsec is a unit of length used in astronomy. It stands for ‘parallax of one arc second’ and now it’s also the name of a morning trance compilation. Czech label Oxygen Records is out with their 2nd release – compiled by DJ T.V. The first release Satellite got rave reviews, and by the looks of the tracklist on this – the second one – it’s another batch of jolly morning trance… Let’s find out!

 

Let me take you thru the tracks…

 

#01: Braincell aka. Rastalians – Underwater

Braincell equals Rastalians minus Jürgen Kassel equals German producer Ralph Knobloch… This guy knows his shit – he’s been in the game for a long time and has countless releases under his belt… This is liquid space trance – uplifting, banging and full of nice little melodies… Not overly exciting to be honest, but good solid music… Would come in handy as a DJ tool for building a nice, uplifting morning set… An ok track!

 

#02: Aphid Moon vs. Protoculture – Systematic Anomally

“There are only two possibilities – either no one told me or no one knows!? …Precisely! As you are undoubtedly gathering the anomaly is systemic. Creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations!” Now here’s a very interesting collaboration between Jules Hamer from the UK and Nate Raubenheimer from South Africa… Between them, these guys have produced some of the most critically acclaimed morning trance in recent years… And now they are in cahoots! This sounds just as you’d hope – the phat, wall-of-sound signature sound from Aphid Moon mated with the unquestionable, melodic morning appeal from Protoculture… A match made in heaven! This is highly melodic, futuristic full-on – skilfully executed by these sound magicians! Check out the trippy break-down + following climax… Pure bliss! A sweet, sweet track!

 

#03: Ninja – Show Time

Woow – it’s been quite a while since I last heard anything from French producer Stéphane Djani aka. Ninja… But this guy still masters the good old, clinic sound from the early millennium… This is crackling, bubbling and stiff psytrance – with both hints of progressive and epic, melodic full-on… A hybrid really – leaning mostly towards the epic, uplifting side… Pretty good, but not a stand-out track…

 

#04: Hydraglyph – Aural Sex (Rmx)

This is actually my first encounter with the works of South African producers Mark Ackermann & Andrew Morgan, but I’ve heard good things about them… And rightfully so – this is very nice, colourful morning trance… Full-on in structure, but instantly trippy! Experimental to the core and has a massive acid mid-section…. Reminds me of the Digital Psionics sound – sweet stuff! A very nice full-power, blasting track…

 

#05: Freakulizer & DJ Moodra – Freaky Mood

Another collaboration here. This time between Swiss producers Simon Schwendener & Martin Baur… I haven’t heard much of their previous stuff, but I can tell you that this is more uplifting morning trance… Very reminiscent of the previous track and almost as good – almost! It’s gets a little too happy towards the end of the track… But still a nice little track!

 

#06: Setherian – Angelic Debris

Setherian is DJ Seth aka Christian Zahn from Sao Paulo, Brazil. His debut album Multiverse was a balanced mix of progressive and full-on – and so is this track… Kinda like Etic really! And yeah, this is pretty good too – I like the soft, yet murky voice samples and the nifty progressive reverb effects… But still I feel something’s lacking here… Can’t quite put my finger on it though… Decent track!

 

#07: Sound Field – No Roots

“Some journey never meant to end!” This is Israeli producers Andy Yakovlev (ProSect) & Liron Atia… ProSect really, really impressed me with his progressive masterpiece on the recent Tribal Vision compilation Inner Circle… And sure enough, this track has enough progressive touches to qualify as a true hybrid track… I mean, just check out the impressive percussion section here – mated with big, fat uplifting melodic pads… Nicey nice! Sunrise music for sure! A totally unique track – and totally sweet!

 

#08: Lucid SounD – 8.5 Light Minutes

To my knowledge, this is the first track released by Hungarian producer András Benkóczi… This is something close to minimal morning trance! Sounds weird, but so is this track… I mean, sure it has some nice moments but generally I have a hard time connecting to this track… The kick sounds blunt and the melodic pads don’t do much for me… Sorry, I don’t like it – at all!

 

#09: Spectra – Split

Paulo Oliveira & Francisco Oliveira from Portugal finishes things off – and if it wasn’t morning before, it’s definitely morning now… This is by far the most uplifting track here… Easily crossing over into fluffy, commercial stuff… To be honest, I don’t really like this flavour of cheesecake – I liked their tracks on Ketuh Records better… They were a little more edgy than this…

 

Well, well – this is actually a very mixed CD – despite the overall framework being uplifting morning trance… We get all kinds of acid-, progressive- and cheese influences here… It doesn’t come as a surprise, that I’m not particularly fond of the most cheesy bits here… And the last two tracks don’t really do anything for me… But I do like edgy, futuristic morning-trance – and thankfully we’re treated to a number of really good tracks too… And the great stuff here really *is* great!

 

The artwork by Mike Comandeer is really excellent and stands out nicely from the crowd. I’m impressed! To conclude, there are a handful of really excellent morning tunes here – but unfortunately also a couple of less-good, cheddar-tracks… But it still beats the crap out of most full-on compilations coming out of Israel these days… So - it’s not the best compilation I’ve heard this year, but it’s not the worst either… Fans of uplifting, joyous morning trance with a pinch of psychedelic will most definitely take well to this… Enjoy!

 

Favourites: 2(!), 4(!), 5, 7(!)

 

DeathPosture

 

External links:

Oxygen Records: http://www.oxygenrecords.com

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/540821

Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/cq72z

TranceShop: http://tinyurl.com/b27ev

Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/dnp3y

Wirikuta: http://tinyurl.com/86d33

Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/df37r

Chaos: http://tinyurl.com/8qu3u

Ajuca: http://tinyurl.com/buy6h

Juno: http://tinyurl.com/ccwpg

[ProSect]

Nice review here.

 

My favourites are 2,6,9. Lovely artwork.

 

ND

[cymoon]

my review originally written for www.psytrance.cz

 

VA Parsec

(Oxygen records 2005)

 

Parsec is the second compilation from our czech label Oxygen records, compiled again by TV and of course focused on the morning trance. So if you are into this kind of music, let’s look closer to this release.

 

The warm up track „Underwater“ is delivered by Braincell, who is noone else than Ralph from Rastaliens. Expect the rastas groovy fullon style with smooth melodies. Nice stuff for the beginning.

 

After him, there is a collaboration between Aphid Moon and Protoculture. They made together a track called „Systematic Anomally“, fat driving bass shakes your ass, uplifting smooth and a bit dark melodies are touching you soul. This collaboration is worth listen for sure.

 

The french project Ninja speed it up a bit with his „Show Time“ tune. Energetic psytrance full of melodic sound scapes, effected noises and sounds, sometimes being harder, sometimes uplifting, making a very nice track together.

 

Hydraglyph from South Africa follow the similar mood, add more aggressive full on sound, a few acid lines, a strong synthetic stormy climax and a very good remix of „Aural Sex“ is born. Dancefloor attack.

 

After the full-on explosion the compilation goes forward with a track „Freaky Mood“ from Freakulizer & dj Moodra. A bit more straight again, but not for long time. After a while the acid lines attack your mind, crashing goa melody makes you jump out of you sofa and after a short breakdown you go to the end of this.

 

Setherian brings us again his progressive oriented psytrance, non-violent, uplifting, full of little darkish melodies and scapes. That’s his „Angelic Debris“ track.

 

Soundfield from Israel are one of the most original artists of today and they prove it again with „No Roots“ track. A very original morning tune, a combination of classic goa sound and progressive housey beats and elements. Great stuff. You can also expect their full lenght album released next year at Oxygen records!

 

Lucid Sound goes again the more monotone progressive side of thing, playing with tiny tones and sounds building a spacey atmospheric peak of his track „8.5 Light Minutes“.

 

And at the end we have a chance to hear another track from portuguese act Spectra. They did not fall down and bring us a great morning tune, full of emotions, melodies celebrating the sunrise beauty.

 

The second compilation from Oxygen is a nice realese, a bit more well-balanced in its sound than the first one, even maybe some tracks could merge a bit in your ears, but each tune is more or less worth listening. No mainstream kick-ass full-on, no cheesy stuff, a few great tracks and overall pleasant tracks for pleasant mornings at the dancefloor or at home as well. And there is not many compilations like this today, so maybe it is time to get your copy.

[tv@oxygenrecords.com]

copy/paste review from Dj Clown - take from the isratrance forum.

 

Oxygen Records strikes again with another great morning release. This one is much more trancy than there first release, bringing forth alot more atmospheric music with a great dancefloor feel.

 

VA - Parsec is compiled by Dj TV once again, and he surly doesn't let us down.

 

1. Braincell – Underwater

2. Aphid Moon Vs. Protoculture – Systematic Anomally

3. Ninja – Show Time

4. Hydraglyph – Aural Sex (Rmx)

5. Freakulizer & Dj Moodra – Freaky Mood

6. Setherian – Angelic Debris

7. Sound Field – No Roots

8. Lucid Sound – 8.5 Light Minutes

9. Spectra – Split

 

This compilation starts off with a great opening track, at the perfect tempo to open up your minds for this compilation.. Braincell surely know's what he's doing when it comes to top notch production and sound. This bassline track has a minimal full-on feel to it, as he refrains from any distinct melody. I really like the percussions used in this one, giving a slight tribal vibe at times.. Very nice !

 

Aphid moon Vs Protoculture is definatly a team up we will be hearing alot more from after this one. A much heavyer bassline than Braincell's track, also with a minimal feel to it and simular sounds as "Underwater". It sounds alot like the "Wrecked Machines" album in a way.. Very psycadelik tune here .

 

Ninja comes back after almost two (if not more) years away from a release. His last track released was borderline full-on and psytek, so my expectations were very high as i awaited new material. As i expected, he does not let us down.. One can say that this track is the "launch" of this compilaiton, as he pickes up the pace and laces us with awsome melodies. Its kind of a long track that IMO could progress into something more, but then again, it does the trick on a dancefloor, and mixed with other tunes, it has more than enough energy to knock people's socks off..

 

Hydraglyph is something new to me, and didn't know what to expect.. at first, i though i would be a hard trance tune, but insted it delivers one of the darkest tracks one this release. The structure of this track is totally insane, as it starts off rather slow and after each buildup, you get extra energy, until the final death breakdown, where the track turns into a ball of energy.. so much power in this tune and top production makes it a must at all parties..

 

Now for a blast from the past, we get Freakulizer and Dj Moodra's tune that sounds alot like old goa trance at certain points, with todays progressions.. Its very melodic and has goaish pads.. not really something that caught my ear, but i'm sure i can find a set to add this one into..

 

Setherian isn't really my cup of tea, and honestly i cannot say i've really enjoyed any of his releases in the past.. This one unfortunatly doesn't reach out to me, much like his previous work.. although i really like the last breakdown in the track, in general i think there just isn't enough bassline action.. it would work best in the late morning to kinda sooth the trancers.. (sorry if you are reading this seth, i do not in any way mean to insult your music nor your production, for it is just as great as all the other tunes on this compilation, just not for me, personally)

 

Okay, well, i guess its always great to follow up a track that i like least, with one i like best.. thanks Oxygen for doing this just right. Sound Field is back with more destruction, combining almost every possible musical element in this one, from progressive house to psytrance.. what a masterpeice this one is. You can feel the "sound field" this track creates.. A more trancy track then we are use to from Andy, but he know's how to take the best element of trance and make it hard enough to keep you awake.. a true stormer..

 

Lucid SounD also doesn't reach out and touch my psy-ears.. I guess its just too "Morning" for my tastes.. It runs around in circles alot and comes back to the same sounds, never really building up as much as it could.. Just not for me..

 

Ahh, Spectra is back with another solid track. Surprised me at first, as i was expecting something dark and hard, we got something smooth and trancy.. not much bassline in this one, but alot of bass to make up for it.. it kinda has a chinese sounding influences in the melodies.. like in chinease anime cartoons.. very melodic atmosphere and a great track to close this album, leaving you wanting more more more.. luckly, his album is on the way ..

 

All in all, if your a progressive fan, you will love this album.. if you are a Morning fan this is a MUST .. if you like goa gill, your in the wrong place.. lol.. This is not a total madness compilation.. its filled with sensual tunes that relax the body, but give's you the urge to shake your booty none-the-less..

 

Favs : 1, 2, 3, !4!, !7!, 9 ..

[be_psychedelic]

yep nice one

 

p.s. welcome me here